Various applications involving electronic systems require a combination of secure transmissions and high bandwidth in an arrangement that is reasonably affordable. For example, Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) applications may require transmission of a large quantity of data to multiple users. A network of computing nodes may process and exchange information. The transmissions must be reasonably resistant to jamming and interception, covert, and secure from discovery.
ATR-type applications also consume a great deal of bandwidth. For example, image files of many megabytes may require transmission and processing in real time. In addition, transmission of high-resolution imagery files to multiple users or nodes may be required. If too much time or bandwidth is consumed in transmitting data, missions may be jeopardized.
Various types of applications may also require multiple security levels in order to limit access to transmitted data. For example, a certain set of data may be classified within a certain security level and visible only to users having authorization to view data at that security level. Managing and controlling access to data of different security levels may be cumbersome.
The cost of a suitable communications arrangement may also be an important factor. For example, a communications arrangement that is prohibitively expensive may be deployed in a limited way, and a limited deployment may be marginally effective for a particular application. Thus, efforts to control the costs associated with developing, implementing, and deploying electronic system applications must be made.
The present invention may address one or more of these and related issues.